1. Technical Field
This relates generally to electronic devices, and more particularly, to electronic devices with a display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices often include displays. For example, cellular telephones and portable computers include displays for presenting information to a user. Components for the electronic device, including but not limited to a display, may be mounted in a plastic or a metal housing.
An assembled display may include a display panel and a number of components for providing a variety of functionalities. For instance, one or more display driving circuits for controlling the display panel may be included in a display assembly. Examples of the driving circuits include gate drivers, emission (source) drivers, power (VDD) routing, electrostatic discharge (ESD) circuits, multiplex (mux) circuits, data signal lines, cathode contacts, and other functional elements. There may be a number of peripheral circuits included in the display assembly for providing various kinds of extra functions, such as touch sense or fingerprint identification functionalities. Some of the components may be disposed on the display panel itself, often in the periphery areas next to the display area, which is referred in the present disclosure as the non-display area and/or the inactive area.
Size and weight are of the critical importance in designing modern electronic devices. Also, a high ratio of the active area size compared to that of inactive area, which is sometimes referred to as the screen to bezel ratio, is one of the most desired feature. However, placing some of the aforementioned components in a display assembly may require large inactive area, which may add up to a significant portion of the display panel. Large inactive area tends to make the display panel bulky, making it difficult to incorporate it into the housing of electronic devices. Large inactive area may also necessitate a large masking (e.g., bezel, borders, covering material) to cover a significant portion of the display panel, leading to unappealing device aesthetics.
Some of the components can be placed on a separate flexible printed circuit (FPC) and positioned on the rear side of the display panel. Even with such a configuration, however, the interfaces for connecting the FPC and the wires between the active area and the connection interface still limit how much reduction in the size of the inactive area can be realized by placing components on a separate FPC.